The Knockout Stage Discussion

So the knockout stage begins, the time of the Euros that we have all looked forward to for 4 years! However I want us all to discuss the knockout stage by coming up with predictions, theories, news, statistics, anything as long as it is related to the Euro 2016 knockout stage. It is a momentous occasion which we will not witness in 4 years so we want to make the most of it while we can! Here, I have my current knockout stage predictions. The teams marked in bold are the teams I predict to win:

Switzerland vs Poland
Although Switzerland have a chance, Poland have a spine in their team (Glik, Krychowiak and Lewandowski + Milik) which gives them the edge over Switzerland, and their team is just better in general.Croatia vs Portugal
Portugal may have Ronaldo and other good players, but it does not mean they can beat Croatia. Croatia have a much stronger team and lets face it, the reason why they drew with Czech Republic was because some of their fans were acting stupid by doing what they did and almost injured some people which is enough to distract anyone from playing in a football match. And also I believe that the Croatian players are not as big-headed and arrogant as some of the Portuguese players are which will give them a big edge because in a knockout stage, no player can be big-headed and arrogant, and on top of that, the Croatian fans are aggressive, loud and hot-headed which is what any title-contending team needs, like Leicester City for example. Now when I say title-contending, I mean Croatia are Euro 2016 contenders for they are put in the opposite route of Germany, Spain, Italy and France and also they have the team that are capable enough to do it especially if they can beat Spain, a team that have not lost a Euro match in 2 tournaments and have won those two tournaments in a row, and on top of that they were without Modric and Mandzukic. Meanwhile, Portugal failed to win a match in a group stage including Iceland, Austria and Hungary. You can all talk about Ronaldo as much as you want, but at the end of the day, this is not made up, it is a fact. Period. Wales vs Northern Ireland
Norhern Ireland have no chance against Wales in my opinion. Their team is not as good and Wales also have their spine just like Poland (Williams, Ramsey and Bale).
Hungary vs Belgium
Hungary are just not as good of a team as Belgium, that is it. I cannot see this prediction being up for debate when you look at the team Belgium have (Courtois, Vertonghen, Alderweireld, Witsel, Nainggolan, De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku, Carrasco, etc).Germany vs Slovakia
Although Slovakia have their spine (Skrtel, Hamsik and Weiss) who can manage a fight with Germany, Slovakia just are not as good all round when you look at Germany's team (Neuer, Boateng, Hummels, Kroos, Ozil, Khedira, Muller, etc). These are all world class players and I just can not see the whole of Slovakia's team managing all these players Germany have on their team.Italy vs Spain
Now this is the hardest match to predict by far because I see these 2 teams as the 2 best in the world, but I give the edge to Italy. The fact is Italy did not take the group stage that seriously which was why Conte was using nearly all of his selected players, not just his best team for the whole group stage. and not to mention that Insigne was on the subs bench for nearly the whole group stage. I believe that Conte is letting the players that are not as good play in the group stage and then he will play his first and final squad in the knockout stage. For this reason, I notice a big team bond and spirit which I do not notice in Spain as much. Everyone is getting a chance to play, which is actually a lot more important than you think. Now Spain may have a very good team who can break down big teams and they have Morata who knows Juventus well, but the fact is Italy's fans are much louder, their defense also knows Morata well and they will most likely break him down easily for how good they can be defensively and the other Spanish midfielders and forwards around Morata will most likely be broken down as well, I mean all it takes is for Italy to score which they definitely can do and then park the bus. I am not saying that Spain cant score against Italy because they can, but I can never be so sure because of how good and consistent Italy's defence can be, much more consistent than Spain alltogether in my opinion and evidence of that statement is this (this involves the league campains of Juventus, Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and Barcelona): Italy's defense is mainly made up of Juventus. Bonucci, Barzagli, Chiellini and Buffon all play for Juventus. One is a goalkeeper, that is Buffon, and then the rest (Bonucci, Barzagli and Chiellini) are their defenders. And then you get a midfielder from Roma, Lazio, so on and so fourth, but the difference is the midfielders are always alongside eachother whilst the defence and the goalkeeper are alongside eachother, in other words the midfield is one part while the defence and goalkeeper is another part because that is the whole point of the football formation. The offence make the top part, the midfield make the middle part and then the defence including the goalkeeper make the bottom part, so this is what I mean. Now Juventus's defense, along with their team, managed to keep a winning streak for 14 matches in the Serie A including Napoli and Roma who were 2 of the top 3 Italian teams along with Juventus this season, they went 10 matches without conceding a goal and one of those two matches were against Napoli and Roma, the top 2 out of 3 Italian teams like I said, and on top of that Juventus went unbeaten for 26 matches and won 25 out of 26 of those matches. Now if that is not consistent, I do not know what is consistent. Now, meanwhile Atletico Madrid had a hiccup here and there during their La Liga campaign, Real Madrid and Barcelona did go 12 matches unbeaten and Real Madrid's run was included Barcelona while Barcelona's run included Atletico Madrid and then Barcelona went 23 matches unbeaten including Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, but drew 4 in the process and the best part about it is they drew 3 out of their last 4 games at one point during their La Liga campaign. Not to mention that none of these 3 teams managed to go 10 matches without conceding a goal, but instead only managed to go 5 matches or under without conceding a goal every now and again, and as for the Premier League teams that some of the Spanish players play for, do not even get me started on them. We already know how inconsistent Premier League teams can be, so for that reason they will be written off the equation. So in terms of consistency, Juventus's defence alone wins which makes nearly all the difference (of course the midfielders also play a part in defence) because their offence can definitely score goals while the defence 99.9% of the time tend to make nearly every single offender look average or sometimes even rubbish, and you see that when you watch them play. This massive statement is why I believe Italy have the edge over Spain, but do not get me wrong, Spain do have a chance against Italy but only if they play the most beautiful offensive football they can. They can do that because at the end of the day, there are players from Barcelona and Real Madrid such as Ramos, Pique, Alba, Iniesta and Busquets and they are teams who have scored 111 goals out of 38 matches when put together which is still ridiculous, they conceded 31.5 goals on average which is still very good (not to mention Silva, De Gea, Fabregas, Thiago and Juanfran who indeed plays for a defefnsive team that is Atletico Madrid, but having 1 player from a defensive team is not the same as having 4 players right next to eachother who play for the same club and the same nation) and then they have Morata who is a very clinical striker because at Juventus, you have to be clinical and Morata is just that. With all the study and thinking I have been doing in the past, I give the edge to Italy but it is still very close and I still feel that Spain have a chance.France vs Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland are a capable team, but not as capable as France when you look at players like Lloris, Koscielny, Evra, Matuidi, Kante, Pogba, Payet, Griezmann and etc. I am part Irish by the way but it will not stop me from predicting that France will win because they have the better
England vs Iceland
I am English and I must say that we are just diabolical compared to nearly all of these teams we may have to face in this Euro 2016 knockout stage. Every single problem that you can think of for a football team, England have those problems. The poor management, the inconsistency, the attitude problems (especially Sterling and Wilshere and like I said, no player can have a bad attitude going into a knockout stage otherwise it can hold the whole team back from its full potential), the lack of leadership, the abhorrent playing style, the amount of money involved in English football, the hilarious media, the lack of faith in youth, oh my goodness me the list of problems can go on and on about what is wrong with England national football team. Meanwhile, Iceland actually inspire people including myself. They have a good team, they have leadership, they have quality management, they always do their best and their fans are just wonderful to watch with their expectations of the team not too low, but not too high and their expression of love for their national team, and same with the players. These are attributes that England in fact do not have! For these reasons, Iceland will take advantage of all of these problems England have, they will want the win more and I will just have to predict that Iceland beat England.

These are all my predictions of the Euro 2016 Round of 16. If you have anything to talk about that is related to the Euro 2016 knockout stage, discuss it all there! In the mean time, I will be watching and discussing as well. Bring on the Euro 2016 knockout stage!

typical fans who are whining about everything. more unpredictide matches better for us, i mean some live in fantasy world and wants only big four-five teams matches all the time? there is no such thing as brilliant system, o we can all let play only Spain,Germany,France,England,Italy in final stage? i mean it's England or Spain falt they can't win their group. cause then they would have been in different side. they can blame only themselves.

typical fans who are whining about everything. more unpredictide matches better for us, i mean some live in fantasy world and wants only big four-five teams matches all the time? there is no such thing as brilliant system, o we can all let play only Spain,Germany,France,England,Italy in final stage? i mean it's England or Spain falt they can't win their group. cause then they would have been in different side. they can blame only themselves.

typical fans who are whining about everything. more unpredictide matches better for us, i mean some live in fantasy world and wants only big four-five teams matches all the time? there is no such thing as brilliant system, o we can all let play only Spain,Germany,France,England,Italy in final stage? i mean it's England or Spain falt they can't win their group. cause then they would have been in different side. they can blame only themselves.

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I absolutely agree with you on this one. I believe you are referring to barcaq8's post, and I agree. It is Spain and England's fault they did not win their group because they did not perform well enough, and as for England. Let's face it, they suck. I am an England fan but I am saying it the way it is, we are a diabolical team. And to be fair, Croatia are a better team than 2 consecutive Euro winner Spain if they can beat them without Modric and Mandzukic. They are one of the best teams in Europe right now with some of the most aggressive and hot-headed fanbases in the world who will out-chant and frighten the other fans and opposing players, bring up their team's morale and behave themselves more at the same time after achieving what they have achieved so far, especially after what happened vs Czech Republic, they will want to behave more after that.

this 24 team, euro draw system is basically flawed and having such a poor system in 2016 is pure disaster in my humbla opinion!

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I think your post is flawed actually. What you do not realise is it was all on Spain to beat Croatia so they can grab an easier route and prove they can take on the likes of Germany and Italy, and they could not do it so Croatia beat them, that is it. You can complain about this third placed ranking system all you want, but at the end of the day, the amount of excitement, emotion and joy the ranking has brought has just been priceless, especially when you watch those fans from Albania, Northern Ireland, Turkey, Hungary, Iceland, Wales and Republic of Ireland celebrating and chanting about achieving what they could potentially achieve, a round of 16 place. If you want proof, then go on YouTube, go to Copa90's channel and watch some of their videos about the Euro 2016. It is wonderful, but this is your problem. It is all about the big teams facing each other, it is not about the other teams in the competition as well when in fact this is not true because every team is part of a tournament and there will be small and big teams getting knocked out one by one at various times until we have a tournament winner, because that is how a tournament works whether you like it or not, so deal with it, stop complaining like a brat and be grateful that we have such a wonderful sporting competition like this one in existence. I bet you are one of those fans that would like a European Super League lol

Im thinking Kalinic could start over Mandzukic against Portugal after his great performance vs Spain. Having Modric back healthy is key though. Kovacic is not trusted to do the defensive duties which is why he did not start against Spain. Modric Rakitic Brozovic and Badelj need to control the midfield like they did the first two games if Croatia wants to beat Portugal.

Im thinking Kalinic could start over Mandzukic against Portugal after his great performance vs Spain. Having Modric back healthy is key though. Kovacic is not trusted to do the defensive duties which is why he did not start against Spain. Modric Rakitic Brozovic and Badelj need to control the midfield like they did the first two games if Croatia wants to beat Portugal.

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Well the one forward that definitely needs to start is Perisic. I believe that Perisic is your main forward who is the difference to your attack which he has proven time and time again for Croatia. And then I still insist on Brozovic and Modric starting over Pjaca and Rog for obvious reasons, Rakitic and Badelj to start for obvious reasons and then I was very impressed with Kalinic as well, especially with that finish vs De Gea, one of the best keepers in the world. The fact is Kalinic has made one assist and scored one goal in one match vs Spain while Mandzukic could not manage an assist or a goal vs Turkey and Czech Republic. If I was Cacic, I would say "Nikola, you have earned your starting place vs Portugal. Well done."

Well the bracket is set that way because the underdogs played with their hearts and won the games they had to and all the Powerhouses underperformed terribly. A very even tournament if you ask me.

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I think the brackets were lopsided even before the group stage, even if Spain and England had done their jobs. The reason for the enlargement was tv money and now I think Uefa will get payback via low tv ratings cause nobody's interested in Wales playing Northern Ireland.

I think the brackets were lopsided even before the group stage, even if Spain and England had done their jobs. The reason for the enlargement was tv money and now I think Uefa will get payback via low tv ratings cause nobody's interested in Wales playing Northern Ireland.

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The brackets are the way they are because the "Big" teams failed to perform to their usual standards.

The brackets are the way they are because the "Big" teams failed to perform to their usual standards.

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No the brackets are the way they are because lower teams could bunkerball their way into yet another round before the quarterfinals. Portugal were 3 times the better team and still only got 3 draws. Germany has 26 attempts and NIR bunkers their way with a 0:1 loss. The football is worse, less goals, football loses, Uefa wins(perhaps not now).

No the brackets are the way they are because lower teams could bunkerball their way into yet another round before the quarterfinals. Portugal were 3 times the better team and still only got 3 draws. Germany has 26 attempts and NIR bunkers their way with a 0:1 loss. The football is worse, less goals, football loses, Uefa wins(perhaps not now).

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Ok, so you are blaming the lower teams for playing defensively. Well, they have always done that, is the way of soccer, if you aren't technically as good as your opponent, wait for him to make mistakes. Portugal and most of the big teams have underperformed so far and no matter how much you want to deny it, stats don't lie. The Brackets reflect the reality of European( and World ) soccer, which is that the small countries are improving. Cheers

Ok, so you are blaming the lower teams for playing defensively. Well, they have always done that, is the way of soccer, if you aren't technically as good as your opponent, wait for him to make mistakes. Portugal and most of the big teams have underperformed so far and no matter how much you want to deny it, stats don't lie. The Brackets reflect the reality of European( and World ) soccer, which is that the small countries are improving. Cheers

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The only thing the stats e.g. the scored goals prove is the lower teams drive down the level and quality of play. If thats an improvement to you then thats fine. There is always something to celebrate when your benchmark for success is low. cheers on that!

The only thing the stats e.g. the scored goals prove is the lower teams drive down the level and quality of play. If thats an improvement to you then thats fine. There is always something to celebrate when your benchmark for success is low. cheers on that!

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You just mad because the "lowly" gifted teams, got a better seeding than the giants because of their performance.

I think the brackets were lopsided even before the group stage, even if Spain and England had done their jobs. The reason for the enlargement was tv money and now I think Uefa will get payback via low tv ratings cause nobody's interested in Wales playing Northern Ireland.

No the brackets are the way they are because lower teams could bunkerball their way into yet another round before the quarterfinals. Portugal were 3 times the better team and still only got 3 draws. Germany has 26 attempts and NIR bunkers their way with a 0:1 loss. The football is worse, less goals, football loses, Uefa wins(perhaps not now).

The only thing the stats e.g. the scored goals prove is the lower teams drive down the level and quality of play. If thats an improvement to you then thats fine. There is always something to celebrate when your benchmark for success is low. cheers on that!

How do you define performance? And how do you rate sitting back and bunker in difficulty level in comparison to making the game on your own?

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I disagree with you entirely. The brackets were most likely drawn like that, England are not doing their job, the Welsh and Northern Irish fans are interested in Wales vs Northern Ireland and so am I, Portugal are inconsistent, Germany are obviously not clinical enough, the more teams in a tournament the merrier, there is no such thing as sitting back in football and that statement about football losing and UEFA losing, that is the icing on the cake and probably the most ridiculous statement I have seen on BigSoccer Forum as of yet. Platini, a corrupt man, was banned for 4 years and thrown off presidency, the Euros have included more teams to make the tournament exciting yet football is losing to UEFA? You have completely lost the plot now

typical fans who are whining about everything. more unpredictide matches better for us, i mean some live in fantasy world and wants only big four-five teams matches all the time? there is no such thing as brilliant system, o we can all let play only Spain,Germany,France,England,Italy in final stage? i mean it's England or Spain falt they can't win their group. cause then they would have been in different side. they can blame only themselves.

I disagree with you entirely. The brackets were most likely drawn like that, England are not doing their job, the Welsh and Northern Irish fans are interested in Wales vs Northern Ireland and so am I, Portugal are inconsistent, Germany are obviously not clinical enough, the more teams in a tournament the merrier, there is no such thing as sitting back in football and that statement about football losing and UEFA losing, that is the icing on the cake and probably the most ridiculous statement I have seen on BigSoccer Forum as of yet. Platini, a corrupt man, was banned for 4 years and thrown off presidency, the Euros have included more teams to make the tournament exciting yet football is losing to UEFA? You have completely lost the plot now

It seems like the Real Madrid fans (a fanbase I was slating for a long time) along with cromagnum and Azzurri Fan actually have the most sense here than anybody else, funny enough lol

I disagree with you entirely. The brackets were most likely drawn like that, England are not doing their job, the Welsh and Northern Irish fans are interested in Wales vs Northern Ireland and so am I, Portugal are inconsistent, Germany are obviously not clinical enough, the more teams in a tournament the merrier, there is no such thing as sitting back in football and that statement about football losing and UEFA losing, that is the icing on the cake and probably the most ridiculous statement I have seen on BigSoccer Forum as of yet. Platini, a corrupt man, was banned for 4 years and thrown off presidency, the Euros have included more teams to make the tournament exciting yet football is losing to UEFA? You have completely lost the plot now

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You obviously have problems with the reading comprehension. Or you're unable to bring actual counterarguments aside from "Nah, it isnt". In whichever case, I dont care.

You obviously have problems with the reading comprehension. Or you're unable to bring actual counterarguments aside from "Nah, it isnt". In whichever case, I dont care.

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Well you obviously have problems with being positive, I mean UEFA winning and football losing? What about when we banned Platini? What about Gibralter becoming a UEFA member? What about this third place ranking system bringing in added emotion from turning points in football matches, added scenes of roaring fans in the stadiums and added confidence from different fans and players from all these different countries? I mean come on! And as far as I am concerned all the little points I pointed out were going against everything you said if you read my post and your quoted posts again. Football is losing... if anything, you are losing lol

All I want to do is point out the truth and be honest about it all, I mean you and RaMaaa (two Real Madrid fans) have won your arguments against those two clueless, negative and rather delusional football fans (barcaq8 and White/Blue_since 1860)

Ill tell you that I care more for Gareth Bale and Wales than I do for overrated England. They have so much heart and their games have been some of the most entertaining.
As for the whole degradation of quality of the tournament... Nonsense. Not a single team managed to take all 9 points, and that definitely says a lot abt the quality of the Teams playing. So yeah, this is probably the best Euro I've ever seen.